Opinion: Prison lockback is cruel and unusual punishment

The Durham County Jail is hidden in plain sight. It’s a looming gray building right across the street from the Durham Performing Arts Center.

In a prison “lockback,” a term which Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews disputed in a statement, inmates have only six hours a week to move freely. Advocates from the activist group Inside-Outside Alliance have said that several suicide attempts have occurred within the prison since the lockback began.

The lockback is a cruel and unusual punishment; it’s also a clear indication that prison officials are more interested in punishment than correction. An independent investigation of the Durham County Jail and the lockback is needed.

According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, an organization focused on increasing access to mental health services, 20 percent of American jail inmates have diagnosed mental illnesses. Spending extended amounts of time socially isolated and confined to a small area would only aggravate mental illness.

Jail director Lt. Col. Natalie Perkins argued to The (Raleigh) News & Observer that the lockback is necessary because gang violence inside the jail presents a safety threat to inmates and correctional officers. Such violence is a problem for all involved, but prevention of violence works best when inmates are treated as people.

However, by Perkins’ own admission, only a fraction of those incarcerated are actually causing problems. According to Perkins, only about 100 of the over 500 inmates are presenting a safety threat. If a lockback is imposed at all, then it should only be used for inmates who threaten violence.

If the goal of incarceration is to “correct” or “rehabilitate,” then it only seems natural to minimize trauma and make visits with loved ones from outside the jail as accessible as possible.

A study from the Vera Institute of Justice shows that prisoners who maintain bonds with family while incarcerated are much less likely to reoffend. The lockback makes it difficult for inmates to maintain relationships with loved ones because they are only able to make phone calls during the short periods of time they are allowed out of cells.

The story of the Durham County Jail lockback is filled with arguments over what is happening inside the jail. An independent investigation could settle these disputes.

The Durham County Jail has a responsibility to treat inmates with respect — they should take this responsibility seriously and cease punishing all inmates for violence on the part of few.